Yes, they're basically just a way of breaking the navy up into several smaller navies to simplify operations. (The real-world Royal Navy used to do something similar, which is where I got the idea.)

>(And do you know where I could find a copy of this tech readout? It
>sounds like fascinating reading, even if it's no longer canon.)

I thought it might be in the Dustbin on the FI page, but it appears not. I'll see if I've got a copy kicking around on one of my local drives and put it there. If not, I imagine someone's still got it lying around and could hook you up. Come to think of it, it's from the days when UF stuff always got posted to Usenet, so it's probably in a rec.arts.anime.creative web archive somewhere, and/or on Google Groups.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.